WEBVTT

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"You're in the dark,
in the car, watching

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the black tarred street
being swallowed by speed.

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He tells you his
Dean is making him

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hire a person of color
when there are so

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many great writers out there.

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You think, maybe this
is an experiment,

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and you are being tested
or retroactively insulted,

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or you have done something
that communicates

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this is an OK
conversation to be having.

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Why do you feel comfortable
saying this to me?

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You wish the light
would turn red

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or a police siren would
go off so you could

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slam on the brakes, slam
into the car ahead of you,

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flying forward, settle
quickly, both your faces

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would suddenly be
exposed to the wind.

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As usual, you drive
straight for the moment

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with the expected backing off
of what was previously said.

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It is not only
about confrontation,

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it is headache producing.

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It is also that you
have a destination that

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doesn't include acting like
this moment isn't inhabitable,

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hasn't happened before,
and the before isn't

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part of the now as the
night darkens at the time

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shortens between where we
are and where we are going."

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The funny thing about this--

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I mean, it's true what
this person said to me.

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Someone told me that story,
yeah, there it is, citizen--

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but then just by
chance, somebody else

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told me that they interviewed
for this position,

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the position referred
to in this story.

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And I was in one of those
rare moments in my life

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where you were getting
the story from all sides.

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And the person, the other
person of color, told me, said,

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I was offered this job.

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But everybody was so hostile,
I decided not to take it.

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And then a third
person said to me,

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oh, they hired so-and-so
in this position.

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And this person
said, it was funny.

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It was the wife of the guy
who chaired the committee.

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So that's the person that
was so much more talented

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than the people of color.

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It turned out to be the
wife of the person who

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had bemoaned the fact
that the Dean had asked

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her to hire a person of color.

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So the whole thing took a year
for me to get all the pieces.

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And then I had them all.

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And then life went on.

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